Frequency of severity is back. Insurance buyers need to approach excess casualty renewals carefully to mitigate for loss trends and take advantage of a changing insurance market....more
With the new changes to Michigan’s No-Fault auto insurance law that began on July 2, 2020, all drivers now face increased liability risk if they cause a serious car accident. The most significant change is that an “at-fault”...more
As the health crisis continues, one issue that companies will likely face is the issue of renewing their insurance. In any bear market, the lack of liquidity can drive the insurance market ‘hard,’ making it more difficult to...more
The plaintiffs, U.S. Fire Insurance Co. and North River Insurance Co., issued 12 umbrella and excess umbrella liability policies for a combined coverage of $244 million to a manufacturer of respiratory protection equipment...more
Informed insureds know the importance of notifying their primary insurer of an occurrence or a claim. But notice to the primary layer often does not suffice. If the plaintiff’s demand exceeds the limits in the primary...more
Disputes between policyholders and excess insurers often involve events that occurred before the underlying defense costs or indemnity payments reached the excess layer. In Stryker Corp. v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of...more
The Supreme Court of Delaware issued its decision in the long-standing dispute in In re Viking Pump, Inc. and Warren Pumps, LLC. The appeal arose out of several rulings in the Court of Chancery and after a jury trial in the...more
The New York Court of Appeals recently answered two certified questions from the Delaware Supreme Court concerning insurance allocation, and the Court’s answers may impact significantly policyholders litigating “long-tail”...more
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, there are several key differences between umbrella and excess coverage. One such distinction is that an umbrella policy can apply to multiple underlying policies. This makes...more
Horizontal Exhaustion Not Required for Excess Policies in New York - Why it matters: A Delaware superior court recently predicted that New York’s highest court would not require policyholders to horizontally...more
The Washington Supreme Court joined a minority of jurisdictions that hold that insurers may not unilaterally reserve the right to seek reimbursement for defense costs paid in defending non-covered claims through a reservation...more
When an employer is vicariously liable to a third party for its employee’s negligence, and both the employer and employee have primary and umbrella policies covering liability to the third party, the employee’s primary and...more